Equipping people with the skills and knowledge they need to manage their recovery, have hope and gain more control over their lives.

The recovery programme is dramatically changing the focus of our services by aiming to embed the ethos of recovery into all of our services.

Unlike traditional ideas of clinical recovery, which focus on removing symptoms and getting back to normal, personal recovery is much broader. Personal recovery means different things to different people and should be defined by the person experiencing mental illness.

For many people it means a way of living a satisfying and meaningful life within the limits of mental illness. Putting recovery into action means focusing care on what is personally important and meaningful, looking at the person’s life goals beyond their symptoms. Helping someone to recover can include assisting them to find a job, getting somewhere safe to live and supporting them to develop relationships.

ARCH Recovery College

An important part of this project is our recovery college. A recovery college is a learning centre, where service users, carers and staff enrol as students to attend courses based on recovery principles.

Our recovery college, ARCH Recovery College, opened in September 2014 in Durham and is available to TEWV service users, carers and staff in the Durham area.

Courses aim to equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to manage their recovery, have hope and gain more control over their lives. All courses are developed and delivered in co-production with people who have lived experience of mental health issues.

The recovery college also offers:

• a resource base for service users, carers and staff
• an opportunity for people with lived experience of mental health issues to develop skills and explore opportunities
• an opportunity for Trust staff to become more recovery focused in their practice and to consider their own wellbeing
• a place where service users, carers and staff learn together as students
• courses delivered in co-production by experts by experience and experts by profession.

The college’s main hub building is in central Durham. This is where courses are provided and a resource library based for students with information about other services and opportunities in the area.

ARCH Recovery College is available to TEWV service users, carers and staff aged 18+ in Durham. There is also a limited number of spaces for people in receipt of primary care services and other mental health workers.

Is ARCH Recovery College for me?

We offer a number of courses which are primarily based around group discussion. This includes sharing ideas and opinions; sharing our stories of recovery and our journeys so far and talking about different diagnosis to gain a greater understanding of mental health. The feedback we have received has been highly positive. The group size is usually between 10 and 12 people which allows for good discussion and gives each person the chance to share their ideas and experiences if they wish. Each of our sessions is delivered by an expert by profession and an expert by experience, which often gives a differing perspective on the topic being discussed.

Read some testimonials about the college.

Course and workshops information

Information on our courses is available in our prospectus:

Prospectus February – March 2020

Referrals

Service users can be referred to the college by their care team.  We also accept self referalls or referalls on behalf of someone else.  Please email. tewv.recoverycollege@nhs.net or call Tel. 0191 384 3895.

For further information

Durham ARCH Recovery College has been developed with the support of the following organisations:

• Aspire
• Durham County Council
• Durham County Wide Forum
• Durham Dales, Easington and and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group
• North Durham Clinical Commissioning Group
• Stonham Home Group
• Waddington Street Centre

Follow us on Twitter @archrecovery

Like us on Facebook /durhamrecoverycollege

Recovery College Online

The Recovery College Online provides a range of online educational courses and resources to people with experience of mental illness, from service users to their family, friends and staff. www.recoverycollegeonline.co.uk